Colossians 3:5
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The word "members" here refers not just to physical body parts, but to the sinful desires and passions that inhabit them, actively working against God. Paul's command to "put to death" these members isn't about self-harm, but about ethically silencing these earthly desires that steal God's rightful place in our affections, especially through covetousness.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul has just urged believers to remember they have "died with Christ" and are now alive in Him, hidden with God. Based on this new, heavenly identity, he now insists they must actively put to death any sinful desires and actions that still cling to their earthly existence. This includes a list of sexual sins and covetousness, which he directly equates to idolatry, showing how deeply rooted these earthly desires are.
Paul doesn't mince words here. He calls for a 'putting to death' of certain desires. What does this intense language mean for our daily lives?
Paul uses the strong word 'mortify' (from the Greek for 'to put to death') to describe how we must deal with earthly desires. This isn't about passively wishing them away; it's an active, decisive process.
An Aggressive Approach
Think of it like rooting out a dangerous weed that threatens to choke out everything good. It requires a firm hand and a clear intention to eliminate it.
Not About Self-Harm, But Sin-Killing
This doesn't mean harming your physical body. Instead, it's about severing the power these desires have over your 'members' – your body parts and faculties. The goal is to stop them from being used as tools for sin, rendering them powerless.
A Continuous Battle
This 'putting to death' isn't a one-time event. It's a necessary, ongoing act of Christian morality, responding to the death Christ has already accomplished for us.
The list of sins ends with 'covetousness, which is idolatry.' Why is this desire for 'more' elevated to the level of worshipping false gods?
Paul groups covetousness with deeply immoral actions like sexual immorality and impurity. This might seem surprising, but he calls it 'idolatry' for a powerful reason.
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Where Your Treasure Lies
Idolatry, at its core, is placing something or someone else in the place of God. When we covet – when we intensely desire what belongs to others or things we don't have – our ultimate focus shifts.
Making Things Your God
Covetousness means that possessions, status, or specific desires become the ultimate source of your happiness and security. You give your affection, your thoughts, and your energy to these things in a way that should be reserved for God alone.
God's Prerogative
God alone has the right to receive our ultimate devotion and dependence. When money, possessions, or any earthly thing 'dethrones God from the soul,' as one commentator put it, it becomes an idol.
Understand the original words
nekrōsate · Greek Verb
A decisive, active rejection and mortification of sinful impulses; it requires the ongoing empowerment of the Holy Spirit to kill the influence of the flesh and sinful nature.
porneian · Greek Noun
Any form of illicit sexual activity or unchastity that falls outside the boundaries of the marriage covenant as defined by God.
akatharsian · Greek Noun
Moral uncleanness, defilement, or corruption in a person's behavior, speech, or inner character, standing in direct contrast to divine holiness.
pathos · Greek Noun
An intense, uncontrolled, or sinful desire; often refers to strong, destructive cravings that overwhelm a person’s moral judgment and draw them away from obedience to God.
epithymian kakēn · Greek Noun and Adjective
The root movement of the heart toward what is sinful, forbidden, or against God’s will; it represents the corrupt inclination of the human nature before it is acted upon.
pleonexian · Greek Noun
The insatiable, sinful greed or intense desire for more, especially for what belongs to others; it is condemned as a form of worshiping created things rather than the Creator.
eidōlolatria · Greek Noun
The sin of elevating any created thing, person, or self-interest above God, making it an object of worship, devotion, or ultimate trust.
This passage echoes the idea of 'putting to death' earthly desires by presenting believers as 'dead to sin' and urging them to present their bodies as 'instruments for righteousness,' directly paralleling the active 'mortification' commanded in Colossians.
Galatians 5:16-17Paul highlights the internal conflict between the 'desires of the flesh' and the 'Spirit,' explaining the very battleground that necessitates the 'mortification' of earthly desires mentioned in Colossians.
Ephesians 5:3-5This passage offers a near-identical list of vices and explicitly calls out 'covetousness' as idolatry, reinforcing the severity and specific nature of the sins Paul is addressing.
1 Corinthians 5:10-11Here, Paul identifies 'fornicators' and 'greedy persons' (covetous) and places them in the same category of serious sin, supporting the inclusion of these specific vices in Paul's list for mortification.
Matthew 6:24Jesus' teaching that 'no one can serve two masters' and that one cannot serve both God and money directly illuminates why 'covetousness' is equated with 'idolatry,' as it places material possessions in the place of God.
henryColossians 3:5-11: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
3:5-11 It is our duty to mortify our members which incline to the things of the world. Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them. Continual opposition must be made to all corrupt workings, and no provision made for carnal indulgences. Occasions of sin must be…
vincentColossians 3:5: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
Mortify (νεκρώσατε)Only here, Romans 4:19; Hebrews 11:12. Mortify is used in its literal sense of put to death. So Erasmus: "Christ was mortified and killed." And Shakespeare:" - his wildness mortified in him,Seemed to die too.""1 Henry V., 1, 26"Members (μέλη)See on Romans 6:13. The physical members, so far as they…
The word "members" here refers not just to physical body parts, but to the sinful desires and passions that inhabit them, actively working against God. Paul's command to "put to death" these members isn't about self-harm, but about ethically silencing these earthly desires that steal God's rightful place in our affections, especially through covetousness.
Paul has just urged believers to remember they have "died with Christ" and are now alive in Him, hidden with God. Based on this new, heavenly identity, he now insists they must actively put to death any sinful desires and actions that still cling to their earthly existence. This includes a list of sexual sins and covetousness, which he directly equates to idolatry, showing how deeply rooted these earthly desires are.
Paul has just urged believers to remember they have "died with Christ" and are now alive in Him, hidden with God. Based on this new, heavenly identity, he now insists they must actively put to death any sinful desires and actions that still cling to their earthly existence. This includes a list of sexual sins and covetousness, which he directly equates to idolatry, showing how deeply rooted these earthly desires are.
"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." — The word "members" here refers not just to physical body parts, but to the sinful desires and passions that inhabit them, actively working against God. Paul's command to "put to death" these members…
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Last reviewed October 2026
